Council Post: First-Time CEO: Ensuring Continuity When Taking Over For Beloved Founders

CEO of JibJab, a leading provider of social expression content specializing in digital branded entertainment eCards, satires and messages.  

Becoming a CEO for the first time can be both angst-inducing and incredible. Usually, you’re thrown in to quickly turn around an organization in disarray, but sometimes you’re lucky enough to be the successor in an organization where things are going well. The challenges of the former are obvious, but they offer opportunities for a new CEO to prove him or herself. The challenges of the latter are less obvious, yet similarly daunting.

First, there’s trying to emerge from the shadow of revered company founders leaving in pursuit of their next passion project. Then, there’s the issue of restraint: How much do you hold back, and for how long? How do you make your mark without throwing a wrench in the works?

Find the balance between past and present.

When you become a CEO, your vision includes your philosophies, methodologies and core values. That vision probably doesn’t include juggling your best intentions with loyalties long-term employees have to previous leaders or perceptions that you only want to make changes because you think you know better.

Particularly in the face of “we’ve tried that, it doesn’t work,” you have to be ready to stumble. Employees with more tenure than you may well be right. But it may also be that the market has changed or you’re using different key performance indicators now and you all have to find a way through trial and error.

One way to bridge the gap is to start within the confines of the company’s current operations. Assuming you’re not expected to do an immediate and radical overhaul of everything, taking time for transition puts everyone at ease. Moving slowly doesn’t mean inaction. Intentionally living by your core values before formally introducing them increases the likelihood of successful adoption without employee pushback.

Even without the luxury of time, however, you must be clear about your intent in trying something new: to learn what does and doesn’t work for the new goals and priorities you’ve set for your organization. We tend to err on the side of comfort, like focusing on the success of features or small tests. But we need to collect data through experimentation and find a new comfort level with failure because what you learn from failure is often more valuable in informing future decisions. That kind of flexible thinking also empowers your team to think creatively and partner with you to advance the brand by taking risks strategically, rather than out of fear.

Reaffirm values to move your organization forward.

In that awkward dance of power at the beginning of a transition, it’s critical to have transparency. It’s one of the core values I’ve established for my company and something that, in most instances, eliminates the uncertainty, resentments and silo behaviors that usually undermine a company’s full operating potential.

Some people view transparency as a dual-edged sword. Outside of confidential matters and board discussions, however, it’s better to steer people’s minds away from the worst places. Knowing how tasks contribute to the bigger picture engenders loyalty and team spirit. The last thing you need is people sacrificing productivity to lingering fears about a lack of long-term strategy or their own job security.

This lends itself to another core value I strongly believe in: trust. You have to trust that everyone is there to do the best job to benefit the company, that they’re accountable for their own work and that if they ask for your help, they believe your assistance is critical for a task that feeds your organization’s goals. 

When the objectives are clear to everyone, the rationale behind decision making is equally clear. Even if the decision goes in a different direction than expected, employees who see that they are trusted and their input and expertise is valued can still stand behind a decision they might not agree with but can agree benefits the organization as a whole.

Transparency and trust operate in tandem to create opportunity, which encapsulates a few of the other core values I practice. For example, opportunities for healthy debate mean making a deliberate effort to listen to other voices and benefit from different perspectives. And more opportunities for meaningful collaboration means sharing and discussing ideas and data that represent the best information and not just attempts to put the best foot forward. 

Recognize the responsibility of your role.

The truth is this, the nature of the CEO role is such that every decision you make will likely make someone unhappy. Think about it: The easiest decisions were made long before someone came to you with something more challenging to address. 

My CTO gave me a priceless, practical reminder along these lines when I became CEO. It’s all you. There is no one to hide behind and, though it’s natural to crave reassurances, no one really understands or shares the burden.

But that doesn’t mean you isolate yourself. I sought input from others — internally while developing the core values to make sure what I was thinking was feasible and externally to have an objective sounding board for a more rounded perspective. I even kept in contact with the previous CEO, walking the line between being respectful while still charting my own path for myself and for the company.

In the end, that’s what it comes down to: Whatever the circumstances surrounding your move to CEO, the pressures you face and the resources you have, it’s about finding a way to integrate your vision of what could be with where things are. Remember what it was like to be led by someone else and the things you might have wanted from your leader, and engage with your team members to get them excited about the journey that lies ahead.

Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?